Global Leaders Honor Senegal, the Philippines, and Uruguay for Advances in Reproductive Health

Global Leaders Honor Senegal, the Philippines, and Uruguay for Advances in Reproductive Health2015 Resolve Award recognizes innovative public sector leadership with a special focus on women’s rights.

Geneva, May 21, 2015 – Today the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health (GLC) presents the 2015 Resolve Award to the governments of Senegal, the Philippines, and Uruguay, at a ceremony coinciding with the 68th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Resolve Award recognizes countries that have made groundbreaking progress towards the goal of universal reproductive health. The focus of the 2015 awards is on programs that promote equitable access and are anchored in rights-based principles.

Senegal is receiving the 2015 Resolve Award for Service Delivery in recognition of its revolutionary new supply chain system, called the Informed Push Model (IPM). IPM has virtually eliminated inventory stockouts of contraceptives, thus ensuring that all women have access to a consistent, reliable supply of family planning products.

“Family planning is central to health and also central to development in our country,” said Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Senegal’s Minister of Health and Social Action. “Giving women the means to plan their families leads to better health, empowerment, and opportunity for women and their children. And that in turn leads to more prosperous communities and greater economic productivity. It all starts with family planning.”

The winner of the 2015 Resolve Award for Policy Development is the Philippines, which has enacted a landmark new reproductive health law. For the first time in the country’s history, the right to use family planning is now guaranteed for all adults.

“Family planning saves lives,” said Senator Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the legislation. “It is critical to preventing maternal deaths, reducing abortions and unplanned pregnancies, and enabling women to lead productive and fulfilling lives.” The new law also provides for reproductive health education in schools, universal access to skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care, and subsidized health coverage for low-income members of the population.

Uruguay is being honored with a Special Mention for a sharp reduction in the number of maternal deaths. The country’s modern contraceptive prevalence rate has reached a high 75%. Their approach expands women’s access to post-abortion care, including providing counseling and access to family planning.

The GLC is a group of sixteen sitting and former heads of state, high-level policymakers, and other leaders who build political leadership for increased financial and technical support for reproductive health. The GLC selected the 2015 Resolve Award recipients through a highly competitive global nominations process.